PLEASANTON, Calif., March 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 4, 2014, Thoratec Corporation initiated a voluntary worldwide Medical Device Correction in order to update its labeling and training materials for the HeartMate II® LVAS Pocket System Controller (the "Pocket Controller"). The following information is provided as a reinforcement of the initial release.

Failure to completely connect the driveline during the process of exchanging Pocket System Controllers has resulted in serious injuries and deaths. Patients who received the Pocket Controller as a replacement for an older model (EPC System Controller) may be at a higher risk of experiencing difficulty in the controller exchange process, as there are differences between the two controller models, especially differences related to the connection of the driveline. As of February 4, 2014, the rate of serious injury or death during the process of controller exchange for patients who converted to the Pocket Controller from the EPC Controller was 1.5% (8/523), while the rate for patients who received the Pocket Controller at the time of implant was 0.1% (1/1619).

Patients who are using the HeartMate II LVAS Pocket Controller should immediately contact their doctor for retraining on use of the device and to receive updated Patient Handbook information if they have not been contacted by their doctor already. Pocket Controllers can be identified by the following model information that shows on the label on the controller: REF 105109.

Adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program either online, by regular mail or by fax.

Blockchain. A day doesn’t seem to go by without seeing articles and discussions about the technology. According to PwC executive Seamus Cushley, approximately $1.4B has been invested in blockchain just last year. In Gartner’s recent hype cycle for emerging technologies, blockchain is approaching the peak. It is considered by Gartner as one of the ‘Key platform-enabling technologies to track.’ While there is a lot of ‘hype vs reality’ discussions going on, there is no arguing that blockchain is b...

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You know you need the cloud, but you’re hesitant to simply dump everything at Amazon since you know that not all workloads are suitable for cloud. You know that you want the kind of ease of use and scalability that you get with public cloud, but your applications are architected in a way that makes the public cloud a non-starter. You’re looking at private cloud solutions based on hyperconverged infrastructure, but you’re concerned with the limits inherent in those technologies.

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Coca-Cola’s Google powered digital signage system lays the groundwork for a more valuable connection between Coke and its customers. Digital signs pair software with high-resolution displays so that a message can be changed instantly based on what the operator wants to communicate or sell. In their Day 3 Keynote at 21st Cloud Expo, Greg Chambers, Global Group Director, Digital Innovation, Coca-Col...

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Cloud computing budgets worldwide are reaching into the hundreds of billions of dollars, and no organization can survive long without some sort of cloud migration strategy. Each month brings new announcements, use cases, and success stories.